When You're Gone
by CuteYami
Summary: Responsefic to Tragedyluver's 'Tortured Screams'. Having passed on from the world of the living, Yami found what had really been awaiting him. His soul slowly torn apart, on the other side, Yugi is mostly unaware of what is happening. Undergoing revision.
1. Alone

**CuteYami: Basically, this is like a response to Tragedyluver's 'Tortured Screams'. May contain Darkshipping, Heartshipping, both or neither later on. But it definately contains lots of gore, violence and swearing.**

**Chapter 1-Alone**  
Cries. Screams. It was all the same. The bloody abyss all around him, there was no-one to help him. He was alone, just him and his enemy.

"Come on, you know you love it" the demon cackled.

Another rip of flesh. Another spurt of blood unleashed. Another combined cry and scream of fear and pain. Abandoned. Alone. Dead.

"You know you do".

Rip. Another torn fragment of flash fell, sobs followed. Blood spurted from his mouth. Why? Why had this happened? It hadn't been that long since he had lost his world anyway and now this unbearable torture followed. His eyes were dull and hollow. His voice worn away from his collapsed throat. And this was it. What was once a proud man was reduced to nothing more than a whimpering corpse. His wrists and ankles bound by thick chains, he hung limply from what was now his eternal prison. He glanced up, his heavy head hanging parallel to his shoulders, he could only hang like a pitiful toy - that was what he was, that was what he was doomed to be. Fate had left him to rot like this. Fate had never truly liked him, it had always stuck him in the middle of wars, ever since childhood his life had been falling apart and now he was reduced to this. Zorc was his master, his torturer and he enjoyed every millisecond of his victim's pain. He glanced at the pale bony hands, the flesh may as well have not been there, it was already white and covered in blood stains. He cupped his smaller than usual claw under his victim's chin, lifting the head, matted hair hid away the edges of his head, Zorc grinned, he was now a human-sized being, human-shaped himself. Blood, tears, they ran down the face of the exhausted captive, it pleased Zorc to see him in such a state, it was almost unnatural.

"Say something".

The shredded, torn lips, skin hanging loosely, try blood coating them shut, Zorc growled at the defiance of the boy. His loosely cupped hand tightened around the chin, the boy glared in pain, the bone popped, a deformed cry. Zorc then noted what had happened, he had dislocated the jaw, he popped it back, another groan of pain. This was how it always went. The corpse before him shivered, racked with pain, frozen from the massive amount of blood loss over the past years. Zorc instead slashed at his face, another whimper of pain left the broken lips. He glanced at the water not too far, that was the way he survived, every few days, Zorc would allow him the basic nourishment his body required, even here in the Spirit World where they were. Zorc growled before lifted the container, similar to a bottle which had ones that had once homed fizzy drinks, the water rushed into his demolished throat. Droplets trickled down his chin and dropped onto the floor, it didn't matter, his lips felt wet again, his throat stung from the new substance entering the body, passing the internal wounds. His stomach growled and gurgled, not even he knew, Zorc glanced down at it, the lack of nourishment had led to a collapse, but it hadn't carried out the threat it so often gave. As the chained boy relinquished the water, he gasped for air, he stared at Zorc who stood equal to him, the chains kept him from the ground, he hung a feet or above the ground.

"Should we play our little game?" Zorc suggested.

That damn game. He hated that game. He'd be released and given a head-start, trying to find a way out, but Zorc would always catch him and torture him more. The only things he hadn't gone through were being raped and dying - dying out of existence, their location already where the spirits of the dead would gather. He groaned as his racked throat attempted to muster something, Zorc always loved this, he loved to see this pathetic prisoner try and piece together words. Sometimes they were pleas, sometimes they were threats, but mostly he would call weakly in vain for his best friend. His partner. His 'Aibou'. His 'Hikari'. Zorc moved the blonde hair out of the way of his eyes, blank, dead, cold eyes, void of the sparkle of life they had once had when he was alongside those he loved, dry tear trails found their source there, Zorc wondered what would go through his mind when he could muster the strength to utter a single word.

"Ai...bou..." he whispered. "Yu...gi..."

Zorc sighed, there it was, the useless cry, the silent plea to his partner, the tri-coloured haired boy before him was none other than the reputable spirit that had gained such a high ranking with the above Gods. He was Atem. He was Yami.

"You know he'll never hear you Pharaoh".

* * *

Yugi's eyes snapped open, sweat, panting, fear, he shot up, looking around as though someone had just tried to kill him in his sleep. He looked around, the living room. Darkness. He must have fallen asleep in his world of thoughts. He swung his legs around, his shoes stamping against the ground. His slim fingers dove into his hair, sweat pouring down his face.

"Pharaoh" he muttered.

It had been three full years since the day he had last seen the Pharaoh. The duel had been over, he had been claimed victor and the Pharaoh's spirit had been freed. But judging by these dreams, his freedom was torture. Either that or Yugi's overwhelming regret over sending the Pharaoh away was eating away at him. In the first months after the Pharaoh's leaving, Yugi had been all over the place: screaming, crying, pleading, threatening, hiding, masking it all, suicidal, it had all been in vain. Nothing he had done could have brought back the Pharaoh, no matter how much. In the last two years, he had continued life without his family, his Grandpa also gone on, moved beyond what Yugi had known and into the new world following his best friend. Yugi now lived alone in the game shop in which he had been raised. His friends often offered support, but Yugi denied his need for a social boost. Now nineteen years, Yugi had almost completely shut himself away from the world, hiding in the shadows of the home that he had lived in with his family.  
But since the leaving and accepting that the Pharaoh wasn't coming back, Yugi had been through hell, literally. His sleep would take him into strange dreams, nightmares, ones where he would enter hell and seen his yami. Unsure what they meant, he would see the Pharaoh partner chained to the edge of a secluded cave, nothing around as far as he could see. And Zorc would be there, punishing him, torturing him, cutting him open and feeding on his pleasure. Sometimes, he'd try to intervene, but it proved fruitless, even the first time when Zorc had almost broken his identical friend in two, Yugi himself had tried to sacrifice himself, but Zorc just passed through him, slicing open the Pharaoh's abdomen, screams and cries had exploding from the Pharaoh's throat just as the blood exploded from his body. Yugi had seen it with his very eyes, but he could only imagine what the Pharaoh was going through, his internal organs displayed to him, beyond the bones that pierced the torn flesh. At that point, Yugi had woken and thrown up, bile always rose when he had seen these, he had always been left sickened and disturbed. Three years, at least one every few nights, he would see these visions, but what could he do? Even if they were real, he had no way to help the Pharaoh, he was in the Spirit World and Yugi was still living - the only way to save him was a Good Samaritan or for himself to perish. But that could take decades, the Pharaoh's spirit, his soul, his mind could be torn to shreds, utterly destroyed and discarded in the carnage that was his hellish life in the Spirit World. But how had he ended up with Zorc? These were the questions that haunted Yugi in the early hours of the morning when he would awaken.

"Oh Pharaoh, tell me they're just me missing you" he sobbed, his hands pressed over his face, running up and down. "Tell me you're fine and that isn't happening".

He rose from the plush sofa, walking - or rather stumbling as if drunk - tiredly to the phone, he dislodged it from the hook and pressed it against his ear, dialling in the number, this was a common practice now, he just prayed the other wouldn't hate him for it.

_"Hello?"_ the British accent on the other side yawned.

"Ryou, I'm sorry about this" Yugi sobbed.

_"Yugi?"_ Ryou asked. _"What's the matter?"_

"It was those dreams again" Yugi cried, wiping away the tears from his face, his attempt at trying to sound composed already fallen apart.

_"What happened?"_ Ryou continued.

"It was Zorc again, he was torturing the Pharaoh-I mean Yami" Yuugi muttered shakily. "He kept digging into Yami's body, there was blood everywhere. And screaming. And crying..."

_"Yugi?"_ Ryou repeated.

Yugi cried out desperately, he had never been so scared and alone, before there had always been the Pharaoh watching over him, guiding him. But that was three years ago and since then, Yugi had almost come to terms with life without the Pharaoh around to take care of him.

"Oh Ryou, you have to help me!" Yugi wailed. "I can't stand it! If he's being tortured in the Spirit World - if he's being hurt - I have to know!"

_"But how are you going to get there?"_ Ryou asked.

"I don't know. There has to be someway to see Yami" Yugi cried.

_"Hang on, I'll come over, maybe we could see if Destiny has some kind of ability to send you there for a while"_ Ryou suggested.

The line died as Ryou threw the phone down hurriedly, Yugi wiped away the new tears, he couldn't stand to be alone anymore. He had chosen to hidden away from the world, but his shattered heart was beyond the repair that society could offer, he needed the Pharaoh - he need Yami, Atem, whatever he was choosing to call him - back.

"Pharaoh, I beg you. Send me a sign. A real sign that you're alright. Come to me in a dream, don't just hang there" Yugi pleaded, tears rushing down his cheeks, uniting on his chin before falling, falling forever.

It hadn't been long since his friends had noticed the change in what was their sweet innocent Yugi, he'd hide away from them, avoid the phone, disappeared from their homes on the Internet. It was like all trace of him had disappeared along with the Pharaoh that had been so close. Yugi had noted the mask the Pharaoh had worn, one of strength, one of joy that his spirit was able to return to where they believed it to belong. But Yugi had seen the crack in the mask, just before stepping through, when Anzu was pleading with him to stay and how they would miss him, he had hidden his eyes under the bright almost non-existent shadows that been made on his head from his blond bangs. Yugi had known it, Anzu may have known it, Joey may have noticed. Those closest to him, the ones pleading that he stay had all been joined in the knowledge that he had tears in his own eyes during the leaving of the real world. But that departure was supposed to give him peace at last, but that had not been his fate, Yugi;s dreams indicated the entire passing had been a trap, that Zorc had captured the Pharaoh's soul and now used it as the toy he had long to use him as.

* * *

A quarter hour passed before the knock that Yugi had longed for arrived, he jumped up and paced slowly to the door, turning the knob and opening it to reveal Ryou standing in the dead darkness of night.

"Yugi, I came over as soon as I could" Ryou muttered.

"I could tell from the way you threw your phone down" Yugi responded, not a hint of gratitude, but not a hint of annoyance.

"You don't understand Yugi. This can't be happening" Ryou sighed as he entered, Yugi closing the door behind him.

"Why not?" Yugi asked.

"Because. The Pharaoh's in the Spirit World, you're not. You're here in the living world" Ryou recapped. "I doubt a message or a vision or anything could get through, imagine the distance".

"Ryou, I'm not here to play about. I need to find a way to get to the Spirit World without killing myself" Yugi mumbled. "But if I must die to save Yami, so be it".

"Yugi" Ryou gasped, turning to Yugi with surprise, staring at Yugi, his hazel eyes wide with shock at such a statement.

"Ryou, it's worth it" Yugi muttered. "Yami would die for me and he nearly did a couple of times. I can't just leave him there, he's saved me and I saved him and he saved me back. It's not keeping score and it's not that I owe him to even things up, he's saved me more than I've saved him. But I owe it to him".

"I don't understand" Ryou whispered.

"Before Yami, I had no friends. I was always alone. He came along and then -bam - I had a life" Yugi claimed. "Our Millennium Items united us and the others and now he's gone, I still have that life, it didn't disappear along with him. But if he's in trouble or in pain, if anything's wrong with him, I have to help him. He gave me my life when I threw it away, now I have to give him back his life. I don't think he was bound for the Spirit World. I think he belonged here more. And this just proves it".

"But Yugi" Ryou exhaled. "You can't help him without dying. It's the only way through to the Spirit World and then you can't come back".

"Maybe not" Yugi chirped.

A smile appeared on his face, at a time like this, it puzzled Ryou. Yugi had grown in depth and secrecy over the past three years, without the Pharaoh to give him a push, he had faded as he had before, but his friends had remained by his side; hoping, waiting for the day that Yugi would return.

"What are you thinking?" Ryou asked.

"Destiny knows a way I can get there. We all know" Yugi choked, holding back the tears of the painful memory.

"What do you mean?" Ryou questioned.

"You know" Yugi muttered, tears sliding down his cheeks again. "The doorway".

"What?" Ryou asked, "But you'd need the Millennium Items, they're gone".

"Not necessary" Yugi replied confidently, tearing braking as they were thrown from his eyes. "Destiny knows where they are. Ishizu said they had served their purpose, she never said they had been destroyed. Please Ryou. You have to help me, don't make me go through this alone".

Yugi held Ryou's hand, pleading him, staring at him with those large tearful eyes, despite the years that had passed, he could still pull off that innocent look.

"Yugi" Ryou whispered.

"Ryou, please. Help me. Help Yami" Yugi sobbed.

Ryou smiled gently, tears building in his own eyes, he gripped Yugi's hand, Yugi smiled back weakly, Ryou nodded to show his loyalty, after all, he too had lived with a yami inside his mind, he knew the attachment that one got with a Millennium Item, despite the nature of the yami inside.

"I promise Yugi. I won't abandon you" Ryou muttered. "I'll help you. But you know, the others are going to want to help too".

"Yeah, I don't mind how many people help, I just want to see Yami again. To hold him and tell him its going to be alright. To save him from his fate" Yugi choked, more tears sliding down his face, his attempts at holding them back failing like a weak dam.

Ryou pulled Yugi to him, the smaller tri-coloured haired boy was surprised when he found himself against Ryou, the British companion rubbed his hair gently.

"Let it all out Yugi. You need to" Ryou whispered.

Yugi cried out, tears flooding his face, cries evolving into screams of despair, Ryou closed his eyes, his own tears from feeling Yugi's pain slid down his own cheeks, dropping into Yugi's hair and the smaller one wailed in emotional agony.

* * *

The Pharaoh also cried out in agony, but not emotional, his agony with everything, Zorc punched his left cheek, his head snapping to the side as the fist collided with him. He sobbed with his head thrown aside, facing the abyss to the side of him. No-one was here, no-one was ever going to be here. He was alone. Doomed to serve this purpose for all eternity, trapped in his hellish fate, stuck were his spirit 'belonged', that was it, he belonged there, to be tortured without even his friends by his side to help him, that made sense. His mental sarcasm would never help though, it was just there, nagging at him from the inside, snapping at him for not trying harder to stay with Yugi, for not telling Yugi he wanted to stay. He could remember the cries of Tristan and Anzu as they begged, pleaded for him to stay. Joey however was able to let him go, Yugi had never been identified with either side. He had wanted Yami to stay, but upon hearing Joey's words, he had allowed Yami to slip away. Tears slipped down his face, following the trickling blood, his fate had been sealed the moment he had allowed Yugi to win. He wished he could see them: Yugi, Anzu, Joey, Destiny, Vicky, Mana. Just have his two lives collide for a moment so he could see them all together, just for one last time before his spirit was shattered and his soul perished. It was true, his soul was dying, when Zorc was done, he'd be nothing more than a emotional corpse, wandering the Spirit World, searching for his heart, his mind, himself. He could imagine the responses to that, Yugi would be devastated, but then again, he was no longer Yugi's problem. Yugi had his own life to worry about. Yami's mind pictured the world, safe, peaceful and happy without him. The gang would carry on as if he had never existed, all happy, his sacrifices would have paid off. Yugi. Joey. Anzu. All happy. All content with their lives.

"Yugi" he muttered.

He could imagine Yugi in Duel Monster tournaments, carrying on the legacy that Yami had created by taking over the young one's body and duelling for him. Now independent he would shine above the rest and defeat the like of Kaiba on his own, happy, loved and at peace. This was what life without Yami was meant to be like, the Pharaoh had only brought trouble into his life. Friends maybe, but trouble more than anything, Yami smiled at the thought of the others happy, whilst he was here, alone, pained, tortured. He didn't matter anymore, he liked the others enough to give up everything for them, but his smile soon faded, wondering if they remembered him at all, tears ran down his face, ones of loneliness, ones of abandonment.

"Yugi" he sobbed one last time before his head fell lower than his shoulder and he allowed the darkness to swallow him.


	2. I'm Coming

**Chapter 2-I'm Coming**  
Yugi sat, watching his hands twiddle on his knees, Ryou was gone, he was alone. He watched with narrow eyes, despair filled, wondering what Yami was doing, how Yami was doing. He closed his eyes, the last seconds of Yami's physical life flashed before him, walking away, not looking back, his thumbs up, showing he was fine and was going to be fine. If only he had known what lied ahead for him. Yugi could feel the tears forming again, his hands grasped the hairs at the edge of his head, clawing at his skull, his eyes screwed shut tightly, it was too much. Yami had willingly gone and now he was being tormented, his alter ego, his Pharaonic yami, his closest friend and partner who he had finalised his departure. He opened his eyes, noticing the Silent Magician Lv 8 card before him on the coffee table. Tears subsided as his blood boiled, glaring at the card with disgust, it was the very reason Yami was gone, the final element to Yami's doomed fate. He slipped two fingers until the card, securing it with his thumb before bringing it to his face, glaring at it through the tears.

"Yami, forgive me" he choked.

He ceased the card with his other hand before applying pressure onto the flat surface, his fingers shaking from trying so hard. He pulled. The card ripped. The assailant was torn into two. Yugi then relinquished the card, watching it fly pathetically towards the ground, the two broken severed halves landing and lying far from each other. Yugi sighed, wiping away the tears of anger and fury towards himself. Yami had been so calm, been so fine with what Yugi had done. Yugi felt guilty, broken, alone. It had been him who had chosen, Yami had told him through the mind-link it was fine, he had been hesitant, he shouldn't known how badly he would take it. Seeing Yami over him, his own body, his own eyes gleaming down at him, feeling his hands, it felt like a distant dream of his. A dream that shattered before his very eyes, only moments later, Yami was a memory. Yugi sobbed quietly, cursing himself, calling himself every name under the sun, his emotions beating him up, he couldn't help but feel alone - more alone than he had ever been, despite his friends being close by, al but one - he buried his face into his hands. Despair and regret washed over him in a way that he had looked fine over the past 3 years, he sobbed loudly, only the occasional word would be audible through the muffled cries, begging Yami would return, begging he could see Yami, begging he knew how Yami doing and praying he could save him from the versioned fate. His heart had been shredded once again, a physical pain in his chest where his heart was stabbed away, eating at him, destroying him. It was too late to take back the attack; it had been too late for three years now.

"Yami" he choked through the sobs. "I'm sorry...forgive me...I didn't mean...for this to happen...I was trying to...help you!"

After that a new set of coughing sob broke out, Ryou peered through the door as he returned, his eyes watched Yugi narrowly, despair also found within the glistening optic nerves, he wiped away a tear that Yugi's pain and suffering - only a fraction of what Yami could be going through - brought to him. He snuck into the room, signalling for the other to wait outside, he glided slowly across the floor, not wanting to have his presence discovered, but not exactly wanting Yugi to jump in fear thinking someone had broken in. He stood behind the broken teen, soon they would be entering the life of older adults, it would be long before they entered their twenties and learn just how life would work for real adults, this was only a taste and yet, it felt like they were still kids, big kids whose lives had been the same since the age of sixteen. The only difference was their leaving school and getting jobs around Domino. Ryou smiled gently as he remembered the days at college, together they were; Yugi, Joey, Anzu and himself. He slowly bent his legs, descending down towards Yugi, he placed his hands on Yugi's shoulders, Yugi's sobs immediately halted, a gasp had taken their place, he turned back, seeing Ryou not too far from his face, still lowering himself more slowly now. He smiled compassionately, he lifted a finger and began to tug at the tears that clung to Yugi's eye sockets, Yugi didn't move, he allowed Ryou to do whatever; he didn't have the heart to slap away his hand when he was trying to help, and trying so hard. Instead, he just sighed, his shattered heart lying in pieces somewhere where it should have been.

"Yugi, it's going to be OK" Ryou whispered.

"Yeah, I...I just miss him" Yugi choked, his voice almost fading as he held back the tears.

"I know, but listen, Destiny's outside. We should talk to her and then head off to Egypt with everyone" Ryou whispered.

"But how? Any flights will surely be booked" Yugi muttered.

"I know, we could ask Kaiba. I know he's missed the Pharaoh because I've seen him in his office, a lone, depressed. Heck, his life revolved a lot around Duel Monsters and doing his best against the Pharaoh. Maybe he'll understand" Ryou claimed.

"Really?" Yugi hiccupped.

"Yeah, I promise you Yugi, we're going to do everything we can for the Pharaoh" Ryou whispered.

He wrapped his arms around Yugi's neck loosely, his upper arms resting gently on Yugi's shoulders; he placed his head beside Yugi's nuzzling against Yugi's hair, burrowing his face in almost. Yugi closed his eyes, his thoughts instantly returned to Yami, he hadn't been loved or cared about for three years, he had been a fading memory in their heads for the few years in which they had been separated, already too much damage had been done and this was all before a lifetime without the Pharaoh over his shoulder. He's been on his own for his entire life until that night he solved the Millennium Puzzle, releasing the spirit of the Pharaoh, for four years they had been almost inseparable, that was until the fateful day that Yami was damned for eternity by leaving them, almost the exact amount of time in which Yami had been present had now flown past without any sign of him. Yugi had usually turned his eyes to the sky, the stars, the clouds; they all reminded him of the Pharaoh who he pushed into the next life, thinking it was for the best. Every second of that day - from the attack smashing into Yami's body to him vanishing into the light and the doors slamming closed behind him had replayed themselves to Yugi thousands...millions of times, each time, the heartbreak was the same, he had never gotten over it truly, every night he would cry himself to sleep, thinking about that day and everything since. At that point, Destiny entered, walking slowly, watching the pair as Ryou released Yugi, returning to his full height, leaving a hand on Yugi's shoulder. She stood tall, just taller than Ryou himself, she looked down at Yugi sympathetically, narrow lilac eyes, glistening in the light of the day, Yugi pulled away at the last tears that remained clinging, the trails of recent tears remained, drying.

"Yugi" Destiny muttered. "I know you want to meet up with Yami, Ryou told me everything on the way over".

"But?" Yugi sighed.

"But?" Destiny repeated, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"You're going to tell us that it's impossible or that it's too dangerous or something" Yugi guessed.

"You want me to tell you that it's too dangerous? It is" Destiny replied. "But that's why I'm coming too".

"What?" Yugi gasped.

"I've talked to Vicky, Anzu and Joey, we can all go together" Destiny insisted.

"But how do we open the doorway?" Ryou asked.

"That's why I have to come, the Ishtars don't know it, but a group of Egyptologists that Yugi's Grandpa used to work have been working on opening up that place" Destiny explained. "His dying wish was that Yugi would be happy again some day, he knew the best way to do that was for me to help you see Yami again".

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Yugi asked.

"The collapse was pretty rough and its taken them the entire time since your Grandpa's passing. But they broke through, I just got word from Rebecca, her Grandpa's working on it too" Destiny stated.

Yugi threw himself against Destiny, Ryou smiled, stepping back as Yugi leapt past him, he understood why Yugi was so caught up to leap at Destiny like he had. She had given him to answer to his prayers, the reply to the same wish he had made thousands of times everyday. A chance to see Yami once again.

* * *

Anzu smiled softly when Ryou told her the news, she sat withdrawn, her hands on her knees which refused to part, almost like a high class woman, Joey and Vicky sat nearby, both hanging onto every word of the near future. Ryou explained that he and Destiny would talk to Kaiba about the transportation, despite the news, everyday Yugi had been getting worse and prolonging the journey wouldn't help. Joey grinned widely when he heard of the news that they were heading off to Egypt once again, the Pharaoh's homeland, however, he and Anzu had had no knowledge of the dreams, Yugi had made Ryou promise to keep the hellish reasons classified until they had reached the underground room in which Yami had left the world and Destiny would reopen to the door to give him a second chance.

"It would be nice to see the Pharaoh again, see how's he's been doing in his new life" Anzu chirped happily.

"You don't know the half of it" Ryou sighed.

Vicky turned her eyes away from them, Anzu had recovered from losing the Pharaoh in a way that neither she nor Yugi had. Her wiped away the tears when she turned away, hiding the truth from the others, they would be devastated when they were to find Yami - wherever they would find him, whenever they would find him, if they would find him. The thought of losing him drove her out of the room, she rushed away, hiding her face from the others, the three watched with wide puzzled eyes, Anzu looked back at Ryou who's face had lost colour.

"Ryou?" she asked. "What's going on? Is she OK?"

"Yeah, she just misses him still. You know how close they were" Ryou sighed.

Anzu looked back at the door that had slammed shut behind the distraught partner, she had moved between living with Tea and living with Yugi depending on the situation at the time. Anzu sighed, Joey rested a hand on her knee closer to him, she glanced at him, he smiled softly back at her, she smiled back, a half-hearted smile, she looked back at Ryou as he stood close by, his eyes fixed on the door before he realized she was watching him and looked back at her.

"Don't worry. When we find the Pharaoh, everything can get back to normal" he insisted.

"But how?" Anzu muttered sorely. "He belongs there, he went for a reason. He'd lose his body, wouldn't he? Besides, he might want to stay there".

"Anzu, don't worry" Joey whispered. "We're going for Yugi's sake more than the Pharaoh's".

Ryou mumbled under his breath the truth - they weren't going for Yugi, they were really going for Yami, to save him, but he had promised - he coughed to clear his throat of the low growling whisper that had tickled his throat. Anzu and Joey both looked up at him, the three of them had been familiar with the presence of Yami by the time Duellist Kingdom they had all had some sort of close attachment with him before the rest had known - Tristan, Duke, Mai - even Kaiba had known, but his constant denying nature meant he had missed the true identity of his rival,. Those very thoughts brought doubt to Ryou's mind, Kaiba had never been interested in helping them whilst Yami had been with them and there was no reason that said he had to assist them, Ryou closed his eyes, this was one of those very rare moments he wished that the spirit that had dwelled inside his Millennium Ring would just take over his body, ready to force Kaiba into helping them. But that was impossible. His own yami had left for that next world along with Yami and all of the Millennium Items lay far underground under the rubble of the collapsed tomb.

* * *

"I can open the door myself, we just need them to recover the Millennium Items" Destiny stated.

Yugi looked at her as they sat, her hand placed on his far shoulder, almost like a one armed embrace, they had spoken about everything that could happen to open the door, the Egyptologists that were once his Grandpa's colleagues now working on unearthing the Items that had been so precious to him.

"Was Grandpa's dying wish really that I could be happy again by seeing Yami?" Yugi choked.

"Yes" Destiny whispered. "He had seen how depressed you had been over the time since the Ceremonial Duel. He felt so bad because his last memories of you were you and your heartbreak, he regretted never being able to make you smile again".

She slipped a finger under Yugi's chin, gently grasping the front of it with her thumb and gently tilting it back, he looked up with tearful eyes, she had been so good to him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. You were just feeling so down now, I didn't think you could feel much worse, I thought maybe it was time I tried to bring your spirit back up" Destiny apologized.

"It's OK. It'll all be worth it when Yami comes back" Yugi whispered.

"Yeah. And because he gained his body back for your duel and departed with himself intact, he'll be able to survive outside of the Millennium Puzzle, live in that body" Destiny stated.

Yugi smiled through the tears, Destiny wiped away one heading past his mouth, before placing the hand on his shoulder, smiling back at him.

"See" Destiny spoke with a small laugh. "I knew hearing about saving Yami would bring a smile to you".

"He deserves to be set free for real. He was trapped inside the Puzzle for five thousands years, then he was able to experience our lives for four years" Yugi recalled. "But now his torture has resumed, three years of hanging there, destroyed inside and out everyday with no-one knowing for sure or being able to do anything. That wasn't setting him free, it was more like locking him away again, damning him for all eternity".

"It's OK. Things will get better when we get him back" Destiny whispered. "This is where he wanted to be. This is where destiny led him the first time, it will lead him back again".

"But you still don't have any control over his fate do you?" Yugi muttered.

"No, I'm afraid I don't" Destiny sighed. "But I can influence yours so maybe we can indirectly change his".

Yugi smiled, she had been the one that had brought him and the Puzzle together and chosen him to be the one to solve it. She had been the one that had guided them through the four years and now she was defying her duty of being who she was and going to help bring back his closest friend from the world beyond. He couldn't have asked for a better guardian from the forces of so high above that she had been born from, she could be anywhere in the world and yet she had chosen them. Chosen them for their understanding of who she was. Chosen them because of the Pharaoh's destiny that she had been following. Yugi felt proud that Destiny had chosen to stay with them despite the troubles having been apparently over for three full years, she could have left and yet, remained rooted to Domino, almost like it was her original home - her only home.

* * *

Anzu watched the buildings pass by slowly as she stared out the window of Joey's car, he drove along slowly, staring ahead, thoughts of everything flooding his mind. He stared ahead dully, neither knew why things were so quiet and why they had felt less ecstatic now than they had been when they had heard of the plan to bring Yami back from the life beyond their reach.

"Joey?" Anzu asked.

"Yeah?" Joey replied.

"With Atem back, do you think that there'll be people after us again? After him and Yugi?" Anzu mumbled.

"Nah, they've faced everything. I think this is the chance he's been waiting for, the chance to be a normal guy. He has his memories. He'll be out of the Puzzle. He has his own identity. This is his chance to live" Joey answered.

Anzu smiled, she knew that, she had dreamt of him returning to their lives everyday since his leaving, she had been crying herself for weeks, reoccurring dreams of seeing him walk away, rushing forward despite Joey's hand clamping down on her shoulder. She cried out for him to stay, not to leave them, but it was too late, he'd vanish into the light, leaving her and them all. She'd wake after that and cry for hours, cry into the night until her throat was sore and her voice would leave her, cry until she felt she had cried everything out of her. Joey had handled things much better, he had been the one to encourage the Pharaoh to face his final destiny, to enter his resting place, claiming that they would not forget him and he would not forget them, promising they'd meet in the other world one day, all together again. But since then, he had felt slightly depressed, both he and Tristan had grown desperately quiet at the school in their remaining year, both had actually buckled down with their work rather than joke like they had before in the lighter years of their friendship. When they had started their reform, teachers were astonished, almost shocked into submission that the pair of troublemakers and jokesters were actually working of their own will - and doing well at that. Yugi said next to nothing after the day, Joey had sworn he had forgotten what Yugi had sounded like to try and bring him around to utter even the simplest of statements.

"So I guess things will be back to normal when he gets back" Anzu guessed.

"Yeah, they'll go back to the way things were when we could just relax with the Pharaoh around. He'll be relieved, he deserves a rest with the world he wanted to be in" Joey mumbled cheerfully.

"What do you mean?" Anzu asked. "You were the one that said for him to go".

"Calm down Anzu" Joey called. "I didn't want him to go, but it was what his fate called for him to do".

"Then why is he being called back?" Anzu growled.

"I don't know, listen, I'm sorry. OK?" Joey protested calmly.

Anzu leaned back against her seat, looking a little taken aback from her own outburst, she glanced downwards before turning away.

"I'm sorry. I just feel like there's a reason behind all of this" she sighed. "Like something's wrong. Why else would Vicky run off sobbing? It feels like there's more to this than the others are telling us".

"I get that feeling too. But what could they be hiding from us?" he called, perplexed by her point. "We were...are just as close to the Pharaoh as them".

"I don't know. I know that we're closer than most, we knew about him before Duellist Kingdom" Anzu whispered. "But there has to be a reason if they're hiding something from us. I just wish I knew what, we have no idea how bad this secret could be".

"Well, it'll be fine when he gets back and can be himself" Joey chirped, placing a hand softly on her shoulder nearby.

She glanced at him, his warm smile and compassionate eyes, friendly. She smiled back, Joey had never been one for friendship and even when they had entered the Memory World, he seemed to have been slightly hacked off at the constant reliance on their bonds and how they had been verbally displayed.

"Thanks Joey" she replied gratefully, gripping his wrist with her hand, smiling warmly back at him, her eyes narrow in the friendly look he had been giving her, returning her appreciation.


End file.
